Frydenlund Pale Ale
Ringnes Bryggeri (Carlsberg)

February 2014: 500 ml can, from the brewery. ABV is 4.5%. Amber colour, moderate white head. Moderate aroma of grassy and piney / resinous hops, hints of cowshed and dust. The flavour is fairly dry, just a hint of toffee - the hops are allowed to dominate, with their piney and resinous notes, and a "dusty" finish. Not the greatest pale ale in the world, but a nice try from Norway’s biggest brewery.

 

 

 

 

 

The beer poured a dark copper and developed a nice small-bubbled, off-white head that persisted. The nose was pleasant with sweet malty notes and less aromatic hops than expected. The flavor was good but a little short and had some dusty notes on the palate - I don't know how else to describe but use dusty. It was a bit sweeter than expected with notes of caramel, toast and marmalade. The body was pretty consistent with my Pale Ale expectations, albeit a little thin. The carbonation was medium to high, and some Belgian lace did form. I was pleasantly surprised considering it is brewed by a Scandinavian Macro. I would, however, buy this beer again. Came in a 0.5 liter can.

Gold color and clear. Moderate head with some spots on the glass.

I note some prickly hop pellet aroma. A bit of tangerine and grapefruit.

The flavor is similar to the smell, but more ordinary. The start is of light, unsweetened caramel and lightly toasted white bread. The hop is more subtle than the smell. This causes the aftertaste to be quite short and unremarkable. Neutral body and carbonation.

All in all, a run-of-the-mill pale ale.

 

 

Poured in a spiegelau IPA glass from 0,5 can.

A - Golden color with copper tones, really beautiful. Brilliantly clear. Head is frothy and a bit uneven, the foam reduces to a thin lacing fairly quickly.

S - Not what I was expecting. The first thing I smell is metal, and some fruity esters. Smells more like a belgian blonde then an APA.

T - Again the estery profile is very pronounced, as well as the metal taste. I think maybe i get some hops in the background, but the esters are definately dominating.

M - Medium high carbonation, just a tad bit too much for this beer imo. body is medium light

O - I don't think is supposed to be an APA. Disregarding style this beer would be OK if not for the metal flavor, which ruins the beer. I've had this beer several times and it never seems to taste quite the same - I will probably stop buying this when there are better cheap options on the norwegian market now.

 

 

Suddenly all the macro breweries are brewing ales. This one is supposedly based on Frydenlund's old pale ale, that was a big export ale in the 19th century. Did not expect much from this beer, as Frydenlund no longer exist as a brewery, it was swallowed by Ringnes decades ago, which more recently was devoured by evil, evil Carlsberg. That only brews awful shit beer and destroys the brands they buy.

Still. This looks surprisingly good in a medium tall pilsner glass. Completely clear and obviously fully filtered, but the head is huge, long lasting and leaves perfect lacing. The colour is deep golden. Very pretty.

And it smells like a real old ale! My nose is pleasantly surprised to pick up great resin notes, this is obviously well hopped. Fresh and clean and summery, somewhat floral too. And the malts are there, caramel-like, yet dry and very civilised.

Taste is similar, but not as great as the smell. Hops are pleasantly bitter and very fresh (green, in a way), and there is more of that great summer-feel, with some dry barley taste too. But the taste is not really long-lasting, and the mouthfeel is on the thin side. The finish is indeed what gives this away; clearly a macro brew. Still a very good one.

A great brew, nevertheless. I'm looking forward to summer days on the fjord with this brew instead of pilsner.